March 2, 2008
Dayton Stats|EKU Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
RICHMOND, Ky. - Day two of the Eastern Kentucky Invitational was not a good one for Cleveland State as the Vikings dropped both ends of a morning doubleheader, losing 8-3 to Dayton in the opener and 6-4 to Eastern Kentucky in the nightcap, to finish the tourney in third place with a 1-2 mark.
The losses snap CSU's season-opening five-game win streak, dropping the Vikings to 5-2 on the year.
"This wasn't a very good performance for us today," CSU head coach said. "We didn't hit as well as we should have, we didn't field the ball like we are capable of and our pitching was a little off. It just wasn't a very good effort."
"We are a much better team than this. We struck out with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on against Dayton."
Freshman Kala Allred got the starting nod in the circle in the opener but struggled to get out of the first inning, allowing four runs on four hits. She settled down to hold the Flyers scoreless over the next two innings but Dayton erupted for four more runs in the fourth to open up an 8-0 lead after four.
"Kala didn't pitch badly, but she also didn't take control," Nicholson said. "It didn't help that we made an error on the lead off batter in the first and then she had to pitch with a runner on base. Still, you can't allow runs in groups like that."
The Vikings avoided having the game shortened because of the eight-run rule when Danielle Young hit a one-out homerun to left. CSU added two in the sixth on a two-run single by Amy Powell to close to within 8-3.
Amanda Macenko relieved Allred in the fifth and pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.
The nightcap was like a chess match through five innings before the Colonials took control, breaking open a 4-4 tie with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first when Coppus hit her 10th career homerun to left, scoring Whitney Willard who had singled to start the inning.
Eastern Kentucky tied the game in the bottom of the first when Adriel Foxley hit a one-out two run homer to left.
The score remained tied until the fourth when the Vikings added a pair of runs when Willard doubled with one out to score Jessica Burt and Young.
EKU came right back to tie the game at 4-4 on a two-run homerun by Jenna Handley in the bottom of the fourth. The colonials then took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Katie Rolf scored on a wild pitch and Chanze Patterson scored on a groundball to short by Amber Lenz.
Macenko was the loser in the nightcap, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits in six innings to fall to 4-1 on the year.
Coppus was the star of the day for the Vikings. After going hitless in 10 at-bats two weeks ago in the tournament at UNC-Greensboro, the junior shortstop went four-for-seven in the two games today to raise her season batting average to .364.
"Christa was awesome all weekend," Nicholson said. "I couldn't have asked for more from her."
After focusing on mid-term examinations this week, Cleveland State will leave on Saturday (March 8) for its annual spring break trip to the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Fla. where they will play 12 games in seven days.
